D&D General How do you run Town Exploration in your games.

[FallenRX]

Was just a random thought I had running and playing DnD, is that every DM has their own method, but it never feels quite good, like there is this weird hole in the game about how to actually convey the feel of moving and discovering a town or settlement. I know some simply just let the players what do they did and they find a store for it, some who do town guides, or some that run them as odd point crawls but none feel quite right, what do you do in your games? How would you solve this issue? Is it even a issue to solve?

 

[iserith]

In most games I present, I establish that towns are not where the adventure can be found. They are safe havens where characters can safely rest, resupply, and engage in downtime activities (which I tweak into "town tasks" that are similar to but not exactly the same as the downtime activities in XGtE). Each town has a few such tasks that can be done according to the town's flavor, often modified a bit to suit what the town is known for. The players do what they need to do and it plays out kind of like a montage with occasional lingering for a minute or two over bits that are important to the players. Other than that, we don't spend a lot of time on it as the focus of the game is adventure (!) and the adventures are all outside of the safety of the towns.

 

[Charlaquin]

In most games I present, I establish that towns are not where the adventure can be found. They are safe havens where characters can safely rest, resupply, and engage in downtime activities (which I tweak into "town tasks" that are similar to but not exactly the same as the downtime activities in XGtE). Each town has a few such tasks that can be done according to the town's flavor, often modified a bit to suit what the town is known for. The players do what they need to do and it plays out kind of like a montage with occasional lingering for a minute or two over bits that are important to the players. Other than that, we don't spend a lot of time on it as the focus of the game is adventure (!) and the adventures are all outside of the safety of the towns.

Agreed. Often I think the awkwardness of towns the OP observes comes from trying to run them like they’re adventure locations. Not that adventures can’t or shouldn’t happen in urban environments, but when you’re in town to do non-adventuring stuff like carouse, sell your loot, resupply on adventuring gear, recuperate, etc., trying to run it the same way you do the rest of the game is naturally going to feel weird. This sort of montage with the occasional zoom-in to resolve a particular activity or act out a scene the players are invested in, is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[Lanefan]

Agree with @Charlaquin that trying to run downtime as if it's field adventuring isn't going to work, but if there is to be an in-town adventure it very often IME grows out of things done during downtime. An example might be if during training a PC overhears and confirms rumours of a plot to overthrow the local nobility and gets the party to help prevent this (or join in with it, whichever).

What this means is that one needs to be ready to shift from downtime pacing to adventure pacing on the fly without the PCs necessarily travelling anywhere in the setting.

 

[Charlaquin]

Agree with @Charlaquin that trying to run downtime as if it's field adventuring isn't going to work, but if there is to be an in-town adventure it very often IME grows out of things done during downtime. An example might be if during training a PC overhears and confirms rumours of a plot to overthrow the local nobility and gets the party to help prevent this (or join in with it, whichever).

What this means is that one needs to be ready to shift from downtime pacing to adventure pacing on the fly without the PCs necessarily travelling anywhere in the setting.

Indeed, unless you (the general you), as @iserith does, establish that towns just aren’t a place where adventuring happens. Then it’s just a conceit of the game that you’re never going to overhear rumors of a plot to overthrow the local nobility or whatever, because that’s not the kind of game you’re playing in.

And, I know you (Lanefan) wouldn’t run or want to play in a game with such a conceit in place. But I can see why others might want to just handwave such concerns away in favor of focusing exclusively on adventuring out in the wild and in dungeons and such.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Was just a random thought I had running and playing DnD, is that every DM has their own method, but it never feels quite good, like there is this weird hole in the game about how to actually convey the feel of moving and discovering a town or settlement. I know some simply just let the players what do they did and they find a store for it, some who do town guides, or some that run them as odd point crawls but none feel quite right, what do you do in your games? How would you solve this issue? Is it even a issue to solve?

Generally, and especially if the players go somewhere I hadn't planned, I just wing it. Make up a tavern name and engage in some improvisational role playing. The area I live (Surrey) still has old fashioned English villages and market towns, so we can draw on personal experience to make it feel more authentic.

In most games I present, I establish that towns are not where the adventure can be found.

Isn't that rather limiting of the types of adventure you run? And I'm pretty sure most taverns have rats in the cellar just waiting for 1st level characters to exterminate them.

 

[FallenRX]

Agreed. Often I think the awkwardness of towns the OP observes comes from trying to run them like they’re adventure locations. Not that adventures can’t or shouldn’t happen in urban environments, but when you’re in town to do non-adventuring stuff like carouse, sell your loot, resupply on adventuring gear, recuperate, etc., trying to run it the same way you do the rest of the game is naturally going to feel weird. This sort of montage with the occasional zoom-in to resolve a particular activity or act out a scene the players are invested in, is the way to go in my opinion.

I generally run them this way too, but the main issue is there isnt any set town activities/downtime stuff, so a lot of times players can feel oddly lost I feel.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I generally run them this way too, but the main issue is there isnt any set town activities/downtime stuff, so a lot of times players can feel oddly lost I feel.

"Not much to do" (when not working the fields) is a typical village issue, which is why adventurers leave. The main downtime activity is sitting in the tavern drinking warm beer. Note: there are a lot of traditional pub games your players could engage the locals in if you have a taste for minigames.

Traditional pub games

That link doesn't mention darts, which is easy to do with D&D rules. If it's summer there may also be archery on the green. If it's a pirate tavern they probably throw axes instead. The villagers may be keen to draft adventurers into a football team to play against a rival village. Medieval football - Wikipedia

 

[FallenRX]

In most games I present, I establish that towns are not where the adventure can be found. They are safe havens where characters can safely rest, resupply, and engage in downtime activities (which I tweak into "town tasks" that are similar to but not exactly the same as the downtime activities in XGtE). Each town has a few such tasks that can be done according to the town's flavor, often modified a bit to suit what the town is known for. The players do what they need to do and it plays out kind of like a montage with occasional lingering for a minute or two over bits that are important to the players. Other than that, we don't spend a lot of time on it as the focus of the game is adventure (!) and the adventures are all outside of the safety of the towns.

im curious to about these town tasks, that sounds interesting

 

[Yora]

It actually has never occurred to me that town could be explored.